DEA conducts audit at Polliwog Dental

Published: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 3:49 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 3:49 p.m.

Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration visited an Ocala dental office Tuesday and removed some files and interviewed employees.

Mia Ro, a spokeswoman for the DEA in Miami, said agents were at Polliwog Dental (Children's Dentistry) at 255 SE 17th St. for three hours, executing an administrative inspection warrant.

Ro said since the facility is DEA registered to handle controlled substances, agents were there to make sure the office is following the laws, rules and regulations for the distribution of such substances.

Dr. Michael Tarver, DMD, owner of the business, at first said agents were not at the venue but later said they were there for a routine audit.

"I was not aware of that, but if that (did) occur, I'm sure it is part of a routine audit conducted by the department. The staff does not involve the doctors in such minor inspections," he wrote in an email. "Any medical practice is under the scrutiny of multiple government agencies, as we should be."

Tarver said audits are done by the "board of health, the DEA, the Department of Labor, the IRS, you name it. From everything I have been told, today's audit was to make sure our record keeping is in order, which it is. The DEA is just doing their job, as they are required to audit DEA registrants on a fairly regular basis. Every doctor in this county has likely had such an audit in his or her lifetime. They examined our record keeping and found nothing out of the ordinary. We are continuing our practice as usual."

Tarver said the office only has a small amount of controlled substances, "very minor stuff."

"According to the paper handed to me, they are allowed to inspect order forms, invoices, prescriptions, theft and loss reports, destruction reports, initial and biennial inventories, and current inventory. All doctors are required to keep track of this, and it is the DEA's job to make sure medical practices have good record keeping; that's all there is," Tarver said.

<p>Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration visited an Ocala dental office Tuesday and removed some files and interviewed employees.</p><p>Mia Ro, a spokeswoman for the DEA in Miami, said agents were at Polliwog Dental (Children's Dentistry) at 255 SE 17th St. for three hours, executing an administrative inspection warrant.</p><p>Ro said since the facility is DEA registered to handle controlled substances, agents were there to make sure the office is following the laws, rules and regulations for the distribution of such substances.</p><p>Dr. Michael Tarver, DMD, owner of the business, at first said agents were not at the venue but later said they were there for a routine audit.</p><p>"I was not aware of that, but if that (did) occur, I'm sure it is part of a routine audit conducted by the department. The staff does not involve the doctors in such minor inspections," he wrote in an email. "Any medical practice is under the scrutiny of multiple government agencies, as we should be."</p><p>Tarver said audits are done by the "board of health, the DEA, the Department of Labor, the IRS, you name it. From everything I have been told, today's audit was to make sure our record keeping is in order, which it is. The DEA is just doing their job, as they are required to audit DEA registrants on a fairly regular basis. Every doctor in this county has likely had such an audit in his or her lifetime. They examined our record keeping and found nothing out of the ordinary. We are continuing our practice as usual."</p><p>Tarver said the office only has a small amount of controlled substances, "very minor stuff."</p><p>"According to the paper handed to me, they are allowed to inspect order forms, invoices, prescriptions, theft and loss reports, destruction reports, initial and biennial inventories, and current inventory. All doctors are required to keep track of this, and it is the DEA's job to make sure medical practices have good record keeping; that's all there is," Tarver said.</p><p><i>Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118 or austin.miller@starbanner.com.</i></p>